That's Life
by Sable-Reiver
Summary: An AU drabble collection of the everyday, average lives of Morgan and Reid. MorganxReid
1. Inexplicably Drawn

Morgan doesn't know how he found himself in this situation. I mean, he does, he just never saw that deciding to hook up with Melissa would have ended up with him naked on her balcony, three stories up, with her boyfriend thundering his way through the apartment. It seemed unlikely when the front door clicked open that she would shove him onto the balcony, close the door _and_ the blinds behind him, and neglect to send his clothes with him. Yet, here he is and he doubts that he's getting back _into_ the apartment at all seeing as how his knocking has gone just as unheard as his yelling "You have a _boyfriend_?" into the glass has.

Regretting everything, he finds himself cautiously crossing the foot and a half gap between Melissa's balcony and her neighbour's before wondering if this is a good idea. The blinds are closed to the apartment here too but Morgan can hear music playing from inside and decides to give it a shot. He covers himself with one hand and knocks on the door with the other, more embarrassed than he's ever been in his whole life.

The door slides open and _of course_ the man inside has to be incredibly cute with mussed hair and a thoroughly confused expression. There are a group of girls lounging around the living room behind him, trying not to laugh as they unabashedly stare from the background. Morgan finds himself impossibly more embarrassed and the guy shifts uncomfortably, clearing his throat. "Why are you naked on my balcony?" he seems to settle on which, Morgan agrees, is the first thing he would ask too in his situation.

He glances at Melissa's apartment before telling the man in front of him everything; he was hooking up with the girl next door when a boyfriend he didn't know she had came in and he got shoved, naked, onto the balcony with no where to go. The man steps aside after appraising Morgan for a moment longer and gestures for him to follow.

The girls cheer and the brunette turns to their host, "C'mon, Reid, give the guy some clothes and pour him some wine." The guy, Reid apparently, gives her a look that she just rolls her eyes at. "He climbed onto your balcony _naked_ the guys needs a drink."

The blondes agree with her and Reid tries to keep the smile off his face while he indulges them, leading Morgan into his room and looking for some clothes that would fit. "Thanks." Morgan says, taking the clothes from Reid who turns to face the wall while Morgan puts them on. Luckily the cute host in a sweater vest is a little taller than him, making his clothes big enough to stretch over Morgan's wider frame. He laughs a little while he's pulling on the sweatpants he's borrowing.

"What is it?" Morgan catches the aborted movement of shooting a look over his shoulder.

"When I came here to get into someone's pants this wasn't what I had in mind." Morgan takes the slight shaking of Reid's shoulders to be a win.

They make their way back to the living room where the girls have poured another glass of wine for Morgan and are only partially watching the movie and mostly talking to one another. They rejoin the event and conversation turns to Morgan, Reid watching him as though he's going to start something now that he's clothed.

One of the blondes, JJ, swats Reid's shoulder. "He's not a serial killer, relax."

"We still don't know if he makes a habit of this."

JJ just laughs and puts a hand of Reid's arm. "A serial killer _and_ a streaker? I don't think so." And Morgan is kind of sad that Reid and JJ make quite the couple, but Reid takes his wine glass and drains half of it just to satisfy her and he finds that it's too cute to actually hate. It also stops Reid from staring at Morgan in the way that makes him feel like a child again. Win, win.

Morgan finds himself making friends with the group; Prentiss who acts like his sister and who gets him half arguing half bonding over Vonnegut whenever they speak, and JJ who is pretty and nice and scary whenever she takes charge of the situation, and then there's Garcia who is witty and loud and nothing but herself and Morgan finds them all growing on him to the point where he _wants_ to be friends.

"How's William?" Prentiss eventually asks JJ as they open their third bottle of wine.

"Good, good, he's been thinking of moving here so we can get married." While the conversation continues Morgan's just able to not stare at Reid, but he is relieved that JJ and him aren't a couple; they'd be cute, but Reid's grown on him after another drink or so, and he likes to think that he's grown on Reid as well.

It's four in the morning and JJ is starting to fall asleep on Prentiss' shoulder so Reid get's up and announces it's bedtime. He turns to Morgan specifically and shuffles for a moment before speaking what Morgan believes to be a liquor based decision. "You can stay too."

Morgan does, with lot's of encouragement from Garcia and the knowledge that he'd have to drive home otherwise and he's a police officer, it's not his job to break the law.

The morning after is less awkward than Morgan was expecting, the group all sits around and Garcia makes pancakes and eggs for everyone before Reid comments on how he actually has things to do today other than babysit four grownups. Morgan is ushered out by the girls and he feels as though he missed his chance to properly thank Reid for letting him stay.

"Here," Garcia hands Morgan a card with her name and a couple of numbers on it. "my number." She claps him on his shoulder and smiles widely as though they didn't meet last night while he was naked. "You should join us again sometime, handsome."

Prentiss quickly agrees and then they're all getting into their separate cars and Morgan realizes that he's probably never going to see them again. Resigned, he too goes home and goes to shower. It's not until he's stripping off his clothes that he realizes that they're still Reid's.

Morgan showers and dresses and is infinitely thankful that he left his phone in his car yesterday, because now he can text Garcia for Reid's number. She responds with fanfare, but doesn't ask why – to which Morgan is eternally grateful – and then he proceeds to text Melissa.

They decide to get together a couple of days from now so Morgan can gather his clothes, then he texts Reid and makes a similar arrangement for the same day so that he can give the man _his _clothes back. Two birds with one stone and then he never has to see that apartment building ever again. Satisfied, Morgan goes to bed.

Two days later Morgan walks back into the apartment building that hosted the most embarrassing moment of his adult life and finds his way back to Melissa's door. He's five minutes early and knocks on the door, hoping that they can both move past last time's event easily.

Only the door opens and Melissa's not there smiling at him, instead it's a very male chest where she should be, and before he knows it, Morgan is on the ground, his face warming where he had been punched. For a mountain, the guy moves impressively fast and is on top of Morgan before he can manage to fully react to the situation.

He hears Melissa stomp her way to the door and start screaming, Morgan's head is already pounding, he'd just be grateful if she stopped. She doesn't and Morgan is trying to fight the land mass on top of him and he's just kind of _reacting_ which is the worst thing he can be doing, but then there's the slamming of a door just down the hallway and a voice that he vaguely recognizes shouting "Hey!"

The man turns to snarl and Morgan kicks the guy off of him, glancing to see Reid storming up to them dressed to look like – what Morgan would describe as – a teacher's assistant. Melissa's boyfriend shrugs off Reid's advancements, seeing Morgan as more of a threat, and now that Morgan is on his feet he feels more in control, but before they can start their fight again Reid is twisting the man's arm behind his back and maneuvering him into the wall like it's nothing.

"You'll let him get his stuff in peace and if you try anything I won't be this nice." Morgan watches for a moment as Reid applies more pressure to the guy's wrist before standing up and racing through Melissa's apartment, scooping up his stuff and running back out to the hallway.

Reid is standing there, the guy glaring at him from the other side of the hallway and Reid nods at Morgan before they both walk back to Reid's apartment with no further incident. It's more than surreal.

"Thanks." Morgan says when they get into Reid's apartment. He's sitting on the toilet seat while Reid fusses about, getting first aid supplies for the cuts on Morgan's face. He's bleeding and dizzy and can feel the bruises forming on his face so when Reid presents him with a glass of water and two pills he takes them without protest. "Self-defense classes?"

Reid shushes him, working a cloth along Morgan's face but answers anyway. He's not a very physically strong person so he learned self-defense moves that allowed him to fight smart. He leaves out the reason that he got those classes in the first place were because of a man named Tobius Hankle and finishes cleaning up Morgan.

A few minutes later there's a knock on the door and Prentiss and Garcia are letting themselves in. Reid brings them into the bathroom where they had stayed, talking, and Prentiss explains that she's a trained paramedic as part of her professional bodyguard training. Morgan thinks it suits her.

Prentiss patches him up efficiently while Garcia paces out in the hallway, gesturing to the wall connecting their apartments and threatening to ruin their lives digitally. Morgan smiles, he's really taken a liking to this quirky group. His head is still swimming but he's deemed able to leave the bathroom shortly after. They sit in the living room for a while talking and explaining what happened until Prentiss says she has to go and Garcia gets up to leave with her.

"You shouldn't be by yourself tonight." She gestures to where Morgan's head connected with the ground earlier. "Possible concussion."

They both nod and Morgan watches as Reid locks his front door before turning back to him and saying. "What do you want for dinner?"

That's how Morgan ends up staying the night _again_. They talk until ridiculously early hours in the morning and Reid has given him a full recount of the time he and Prentiss went to go see Solaris in original Russian. Morgan had never even heard of it before, but the way Reid gesticulated and the way he spoke faster the more excited about it he became, the more Morgan loved to hear him speak about it.

It's a bad habit, Morgan thinks, staying at Reid's but he can't seem to stop it. After the incident at Melissa's Morgan finds himself hanging out with Reid more frequently than he ever would have imagined. At first they see each other at a café close to the station and they start to get coffee together in the mornings before Morgan's shift starts. Then Reid calls him one day to ask about a recipe Morgan had been detailing to him earlier. Morgan decides it's easier to simply go shopping with Reid than to try and explain the packaging. Before either of them really notice, it becomes routine; once a week they pick up groceries in the evening and three times in the morning they get coffee together. It's nice, but it then leads to Morgan helping put the groceries away and staying for an episode of Star Trek.

One episode turns into seven and at four in the morning, when Reid lives closer to the station than him, it's not his fault if he stays the night. Sometimes they simply cook dinner together and talk until Morgan has had a few too many drinks and it's more logical that he stay the night in that instance too.

It's fine, really, until it's not just sleepovers anymore. He and Reid spend all their time together; Morgan will make coffee and make special runs to the store when he notices that the sugar jar is almost out and he doesn't even take sugar. Morgan finds himself with a second key to Reid's apartment and will let himself in to feed the cat that Prentiss convinced Reid to keep for her when she had to move apartments. He even drives Reid to the airport when he goes away to visit Gideon and then continues to feed Sergio while he's away.

Really, it all just makes sense, but then when Morgan is making up the spare bed in Reid's apartment that he's started to think of as _his_ he realizes that he hasn't slept in his own bed at home for a week now. As Morgan dresses for work he realizes that he has most of his wardrobe shoved into the closet here and that he's brought everything of immediate significance into Reid's space and that they've just been making space for Morgan in Reid's life.

It doesn't mean anything; it just makes sense for them is all.

Christmas comes sooner than Morgan is ready for it. Still, he loves the cold and the festive air that the holiday brings and he can't even begin to hate it, not even when Garcia asks Morgan to go to their group's annual Christmas party. Garcia hosts it and there's more food than they all could eat and there is garland and lights strung up around the house.

"Mistletoe _again_ Garcia?" he hears Prentiss ask as he enters the kitchen for another glass of Kevin's homemade eggnog.

"It's festive, besides, now I can make people pay the mistle_-toll_."

Rolling his eyes, Morgan makes his way over to the two women and wraps an arm around Garcia. "Nice party, baby girl."

"Thanks, handsome, are you my present?" she looks Morgan over obviously and they both laugh warmly.

When Morgan goes to continue the conversation Hotch takes half a step into the kitchen and tells everyone that it's time for the gift exchange. It might be the spiked eggnog but the serious way that he says it makes Morgan want to laugh.

He's met Hotch a few times, Gideon, and Rossi too, and he can't help but think that their whole group acts like their own family. Morgan longs to belong in it. He mentions that he left his gift in the coatroom (Garcia's spare bedroom) and Emily gently punches him in the shoulder telling him to hurry or she'll open his present instead. Maybe Morgan is starting to earn himself a place in their family after all.

The hallway that leads to the spare bedroom is where he runs into Reid, right under where Garcia hung the mistletoe. Reid smiles in the easy way he does after he's had a drink. The mistletoe isn't a problem, Garcia is in the other room and the only one concerned with the mistle-_toll_ but Morgan finds himself drawn to Reid, leaning up into the geniuses space and kissing him, touching his neck softly.

Head spinning, Morgan pulls back and Reid is grinning like everything is still so easy for him. Morgan hopes it's the alcohol that's making him feel this way because if it's the man in front of him then it's too much power for one person to have over him. Instantly, even while more on the drunk side of awareness he knows that things have changed between them. Reid leans back in and gives him a peck on the corner of Morgan's mouth and sidles past him towards the living room as if he's oblivious to the whole change.

They leave a few hours later and the cab ride home is silent; they're both exhausted but Morgan spends the entire car ride riled and thinking. The air is thick when the cab arrives at Reid's apartment and Reid get's out, paying the driver before he realizes that Morgan is still inside the vehicle.

"Are you coming?" Reid asks, smiling slightly as if Morgan has simply forgotten how to leave a car.

Shaking his head Morgan says, "No. I'm going back home, to my _own_ place tonight."

He watches as Reid's face falls, his voice sobering as he nods and says, "Get home safe." Reid closes the cab door and Morgan catches the look of worry, bordering on hurt, in his eyes. It's obvious now, as the cab driver pulls away from the curb, that Reid feels the shift in their relationship too. It's not the same anymore.

Frankly Morgan expects the solitude of his apartment to be welcome and comforting, like coming home after a long trip, except the apartment feels cold and dead. When he takes a shower the body wash smells wrong and he realizes that his razor is at Reid's and that he can't shave. The place is cold and he has to dress in clothes he doesn't really like because all the good stuff is at Reid's. The sheets, when he crawls into bed to pass out, are scratchy and it takes him almost five minutes to turn on the TV because he forgets which remote does what in his own place. It's awful and Morgan doesn't sleep well.

Reid texts him the next day, something innocuous and altogether too nonchalant and Morgan finds he can't work up the nerve to respond. He doesn't respond the day after or the day after that. Morgan finds that every day before Christmas he can't seem to contact Reid again, and he justifies it by telling himself that he's too busy with the lead up to the holidays, but he's just sitting alone in a place that altogether has stopped feeling like a home. His family is out of town and everyone on the police force has family that they're spending their down time with.

Morgan goes out to clubs and bars a few nights, dancing with women and tries to fill the void in his life with drink and flirting. He doesn't go home with any of them and the one time he was close he ended up just wishing her a good night and a Happy New Year and paying for her cab ride home. They'd just be warmth in a bed that's no longer his and he doesn't think he can deal with that. Besides, they deserve better.

It's been almost a month and Morgan is feeling nearly soulless when he gets a text from JJ saying - _What happened? Do you want to talk about it?_

And then from Prentiss deadpanning – _You know he's into you, right?_

And finally a third an hour later from Garcia when he doesn't answer them- _THE ONLY REASON YOU'RE DIGITAL LIFE IS NOT YET HELL IS HE INSISTED I DON'T RUIN YOU, LOVER_

Morgan still doesn't respond and knows that whatever niche he carved out for himself in their family has left a mark on all of them and that it's not fair.

It's been weeks and Morganis bored, tired of sitting in his empty place and pretending that it's a home. So he gets in his car and drives, eventually ending up at Reid's, the place he never thought would have such an impact on his life when he walked in their all those months ago, and it's been half an hour and he's now fully equipped with Reid's usual order of Chinese food from his favourite restaurant across the city– sans chopsticks so they don't have to forage for food with number two pencils -, apology jell-o, and a bottle of wine that he's seen Reid stare at before when they've gone to the liquor store.

Morgan knocks, ready for whatever Reid can throw at him except when he does open the door and Reid is in sweats looking ruffled and breathing a little heavily with a skinny blonde girl Morgan doesn't recognize trying to peer over his shoulder he's not ready at all. There's sweat on her forehead and she's wearing less than Reid is and all Morgan can manage is "Oh…" and then, in a stroke of genius, "Sorry-"

He leaves, striding quickly towards the elevators because apparently it was all one-sided anyway and he should have known. Reid catches him when he's almost at the doors with a "Seiver, stay there." Thrown quickly back into his apartment.

Though Morgan is very pointedly ignoring Reid's very existence right now it doesn't stop the man from physically wedging himself in front of the elevator and making Morgan actually _look_ at him. It's not easy.

Reid shifts for a moment, looking apologetic when he says, "It's not what it looks like." As if he doesn't know it's a cliché. "That's Seiver, She's my self defense trainer."

As much as Morgan would love to believe him that's just too flimsy of an excuse. It's not even his business, besides, it would do the man good to explore himself and learn but he was just hoping that they could sort themselves out first. It's not even like they're a couple, they just spent too much time together. They shared _one _kiss and Morgan got confused, it's hard when you know someone so well and then you feel more than friendship but you don't realize it's impossibly deeper than you ever expected it to be. It's honestly none of _his_ business who's in Reid's apartment or what they were doing together and that's just factually the bottom line of it.

Morgan is thinking this while Reid still blocks the elevator and uncomfortably stuffy silence fills the rest of the hallway and, after another beat, Morgan finds himself saying it all out loud, _all_ of it, even though Reid's eyes are widening.

When the monologue finishes they're just staring at each other and Reid is smiling, and then – and _then_ – Reid leans in and does _it_ again, he reaches for Morgan and kisses him without the aid of alcohol. Morgan is stunned and _wanting_ but not _allowing_ himself anything until he knows for sure. Reid pulls back, nervous and seemingly at a loss.

"Was that okay?"

Morgan looks at him for a moment, registers the way Reid is looking at him like he's amazing and wonders how he missed something so obvious for so long before shaking his head no. The Chinese food and wine and jell-o get set on the floor before Morgan continues, trying to keep a smile off of his face as he says "You're going to have to try again, pretty boy."

They still have lots of talking to do and lots of figuring out to finish but for now, Reid is more than happy to oblige.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Someone needs to take my computer away from me. And convince me to read things over before I post them. That's what happens when I leave it up to Future Me

_-Reiver_


	2. Sing us a Song (You're the Piano Man)

There are a lot of things that Reid blames JJ for; the time he got into an argument about the original Star Trek series at a bar that ended with him on their karaoke stage answering trivia or the time she all but blackmailed him into putting himself up for a charity auction.

The point is JJ has been the cause of many embarrassing moments in Reid's life and he'd honestly like to add this one to the tally but if he's truthful the only hand she had in this travesty was inviting him out for drinks.

Truth be told Reid doesn't drink often but when JJ asked him out after a frankly horrible work week he couldn't say no. Besides, it was a hotel bar that he'd always been interested in entering. In all actuality the last words of their conversation were hers, "I'm not asking you to come, I'm telling you. Get your coat."

Having punctuation anxiety means that he arrives about fifteen minutes early and sits at a table until he decides to anxiously wander around the bar. There are only a few patrons drinking tonight but there's enough chatter that when Reid sits down at the baby grand piano away from civilization no one really can hear him lightly pressing on the keys with the damper pedal pressed down.

It's nonsense at first, just tapping out a couple of scales before it turns into one of the pieces that he remembers. It's fun and it's been at least a year since he dusted off the keyboard in his apartment but with an eidetic memory it comes back easily enough.

He's halfway through the piece before he notices a man standing next to him, arms crossed but mouth turned upward slightly.

"Policy says that patrons aren't supposed to touch the piano." The hand towel slung over the man's shoulder implies he's the bartender and Reid instantly colours especially because the man before him is definitely, irritatingly, distractingly his type.

"Sorry, there wasn't a sign, I didn't know." He envisions standing but with how close the bartender is to him he feels like it'd end with him smacking him in the face accidentally so he remains seated at the piano.

Full out smiling now the bartender shrugs and leans against the instrument. "The rule is mostly so drunk people don't hammer out Chopsticks constantly and seeing as though you are not drunk and seem to be blessed with the talent to play anything other than Chopsticks I think I can let it slide."

Reid takes his foot off the damper and doesn't know what to do with his hands anymore. The bartender takes it upon himself to keep up the conversation. "Actually we're supposed to have this thing reserved for our professional player but, as you can see, we're lacking one." He gestures towards the keys that Reid has abandoned. "Feel free to continue."

In a fit of insanity Reid does, tapping out chords where he left off for a man he's never met before. "Are you looking for one?"

The man quirks an eyebrow. "Are you interested?"

Of course not, Reid has a job and a life and it's ludicrous to quit a job that doesn't nearly stimulate him to punch out music like he's back in University before he picked a different degree to work on. Except- "Potentially."

"You have a multitude of pieces in your repertoire then?"

"Of course." Hell, anything Reid doesn't know already he can learn quickly enough. As soon as he brushes up a little, he'll be more than ready for an audience.

A part of Reid is trying to be reasonable telling him that he has a job already, one that requires fairly early mornings and is not conducive to late nights playing the piano but that part of him is being drowned out by the bartender's easy smile and major chords.

"Derek Morgan, by the way." Morgan extends a hand that has a firm, but not uncomfortable, grip.

"Spencer Reid." He leaves the 'Doctor' out.

"Well, Spencer, let us know what nights you're available and I'll put you in touch with the owner."

It's not like Reid to get enrapt in something like this, especially not so easily, but he's nodding anyway and saying, "it's just Reid. I'll let you know."

Morgan looks like he's about to leave but changes him mind at the last moment to ask, "what's your drink, Reid?"

Relinquishing his place at the piano Reid leaves when Morgan does, meeting JJ as she walks in, face red from the wind, and they both sit down to start their evening. Morgan brings him his drink and keeps coming back to talk throughout the night until someone calls him back for a refill.

Reid's not sure if he should be reluctantly flattered by the flirting that Morgan is obviously dishing out or irritated. He settles on irritated when he watches him do it throughout the night but he still finds himself irrevocably charmed by half of the words that leave Morgan's mouth.

At the end of the night they're shrugging on their jackets to shuffle out and Morgan catches his eye and JJ decides she should find the bathroom before they leave. "I expect you'll think about getting a job here."

Reid nods because apparently his common sense still hasn't kicked it.

"Even if you don't you should become a regular." The obvious once over that he gives Reid is laughable at best.

"I don't think so." The smile doesn't quite leave Morgan's face and Reid finds he enjoys their asinine conversations.

He meets with Aaron Hotchner for less than five minutes for the interview. The man was in a three piece suit, looks at him over carefully before saying, "As long as you lose the sweater vest and know more than five pieces of music, you're hired."

Reid plays him a piece just to be sure but Hotchner goes back to his paperwork before he's done.

That's how he starts playing piano at the bar three nights a week.

Reid loves it.

Not even a month into the gig Reid has rules, the most important of which is only five performances of "Piano Man" a night, and he doesn't sing to it. For sanities sake.

Still, the job that Reid never quit at the cities central library hub is mind numbing at best and makes him want to reconsider the teaching job that he had flat out refused years ago. He's not good with teens. That combined with the renovations being done on the apartment next to his makes him want to set something on fire, the building, himself – he's not picky. The bar gets him through it.

It's silly, how excited he gets, looking forward to playing the piano at nights, it almost makes the rest of his life worth it. He even looks forward to Morgan who asks him to play jazz music when he's not shamelessly flirting with him. He looks forward to the regular customers and new comers and anyone who picks the tables closest to him because they want to listen.

It's exhilarating and Reid happily throws the rest of his life away every time he sits in front of the black and white keys.

Honestly Reid covets a full-time job playing the piano at the bar, he convinces himself otherwise because routine is comfortable and good, as is getting up in the morning and not sleeping past noon because he leaves an hour before the bar closes.

That and he's sure that if he spent more than three nights a week with Morgan draped over the bend in the piano he might do something stupid like _actually_ start to become fully infatuated by him and not just skirt about the notion.

Reid has never been one for teaching, he's awful at every aspect of it, yet he finds himself on slow Wednesday's inexplicably trying to teach Morgan how to play The Entertainer. It'd started out with chords and progressed to actual music, and while Morgan seems to have everything down, left and right hand, as soon as he tries to merry the segments the whole piece falls apart and Reid is left to stop him from butchering the piece completely.

Eventually he can think of only one thing to do. "Why don't you let me play the left hand while you play the right and you can see how it's supposed to sound and not like the waltz you've turned it into?"

There's a moment where Morgan presses on some of the keys thoughtfully before he shifts to the right side of the bench and Reid worms his way into the open space, their thighs pressed together so they can both reach the keys in their correct octaves.

Reid begins the piece and when Morgan joins him he's choppy at best. Soon they become harmonized and Morgan is bouncing his leg to keep rhythm. The piece ends and the only word Reid can think of to describe the expression on the man beside him is _beaming_.

"Are you ready to try it on your own?" He's quite proud of the fact that Morgan was able to keep real time with him but doesn't particularly want to get up.

Morgan's expression instantly turns to incredulous. "Are you kidding? You're the only reason I got through it at all, you can't go anywhere."

Even if he wanted to, Reid doesn't think he could.

As Reid learns, Morgan is a paradigm of composure when faced with anything from hopelessly busy Saturday's to physically hauling out violent, drunk customers. So when he hears cursing over his second performance of "Piano Man" he finishes as quickly as his bridge cutting skills allow him and sneaks over to the bar.

Morgan looks utterly defeated as he tinkers with the cash register and Prentiss, one of Reid's favourite customers, seems to make comments that are rather unhelpful. Prentiss has never gotten incredibly drunk or asked him to play anything by Elton John and for that Reid is eternally grateful.

He greets her as he approaches before taking pity on Morgan, "What seems to be the problem?"

"This damn thing isn't letting me keep track of anyone's tabs." He gestures to machine before running the hand down his face. "I'll have to get Hotch down here to look at it when he has a sec." he pulls out a notepad and pen from a drawer and Reid realizes that Morgan is going to have to write out everyone's tabs until then.

From experience Reid knows that Hotch is unexpectedly busy almost always and decides that it doesn't look like to formidable an opponent. "Mind if I take a look?"

Morgan just steps away, sparing the register a final glare before appraising Reid curiously. Reid tries to enter Prentiss' tab only to have it beep angrily back. "Hush." He absently scolds before trying a few other tricks he's had to learn with the libraries ever-advancing system. When nothing seems to be working Reid turns to Morgan and asks for a screwdriver. "…the tool, not the drink."

Laughing, Morgan opens the drawer he retrieved the paper from and passes him to tool, explaining that Hotch keeps it there for when fixing the register is more intense than normal.

It takes no time at all for Reid to be sure he's dealt with the problem and he signs back in, opening up a bunch of different tabs to make sure it's still not acting up before wiping is prints from the screen mumbling, "Finicky thing." The louder, "Ought to be fine now."

Prentiss is grinning at him and Morgan takes a shell-shocked second before clapping a hand on Reid's shoulder and smiling in a completely genuine and not flirtatious way. "And here I thought you were only good for Piano Man renditions. Thank you."

Ridiculously enough Reid can feel his face warm and he scrabbles to shrug off the feeling. "It wasn't difficult."

"You sure saved me a lot of time and from taking prices down by hand." Without waiting for Reid to move Morgan simply enters his personal space, leaning his shoulder into him and entering Prentiss' order without a hitch. "Remind me to grab you next time it does this."

Morgan's tone is casual but his breath ghosts over Reid's ear before he pulls away to attend a group at the other end of the bar and Reid wants to know when casual encounters with his co-worker caused heart palpitations. Especailly a co-worker who was incredibly cocky and overly flirtatious and Derek- _Freaking – _Morgan of all people.

"This is ridiculous." Reid mutter to himself, looking away from Morgan and instead to Prentiss' ridiculous grin. "Do _not_." Reid snaps, bristling at the knowing look he's being given. "Not a _word_. I mean it." He points a finger at her warningly before marching back to the piano, followed by her silent grin.

It's all incredibly unfair.

It doesn't make sense. Okay, Morgan is suave and charming and funny without being _mean_ but he's also entitled and over-confident. So it doesn't matter that he offers interesting, engaging conversation or that he manages to refill Reid's water glass frequently even when it's a busy night and there's no time for it. It doesn't matter that he can't seem to stop thinking about Morgan because he's really intelligent and he might not know what Solaris is but he asked Reid to try and teach him Russian. Vehemently Reid refused because piano lessons were painful enough.

Maybe it does make sense. It's totally, completely, utterly, comprehensible honestly, but it doesn't mean that Reid has to like it because it'll never lead to anything. Frankly, Morgan flirts with absolutely everyone so him doing things for Reid doesn't mean a thing.

That doesn't stop Reid from making thinly veiled excuses to spend more time with him.

"Are you alright?" Morgan asks when Reid walks into work. It's been a bad day, one of the days that starts off with you late for work only to have anything conceivably bad happen to you once you get there. The only saving grace of the day was that it was one of his nights to play the piano at the bar.

"Full on spectacular." He growls, blowing past the bar and straight for the piano where he begins banging out Rachmaninoff, or something vaguely inspired by him. Any other day the unorthodox loud, dissonant chords would drive him up the wall, but he doesn't _care_ because while the public library was a haven for him as a child it's a _nightmare_ for him as an adult.

"Reid." Morgan is standing as in front of him as he can physically get and he's pulling the book off the stand as though it would stop Reid from playing it. His tone is light and Reid can see the concern on his face. "Do you want to maybe take a break?"

The irrational irritation runs out of him almost immediately. "I haven't even finished one song yet." He sounds helpless, even to himself, and doesn't protest Morgan leading him over to the bar and sitting him in a stool before filling a glass of ice water and giving it to Reid. "Tell me about it."

There are no customers around and Reid has always found it difficult to completely open up to someone who he's not close with and while he and Morgan are getting there, he's not sure he's entirely comfortable with this situation. He drags his fingers through the condensation of the glass and looks at Morgan. The man is staring at him expectantly, patiently, and Reid realizes that he's done this thing before. He idly wonders how many life stories that Morgan has had to sit through.

Still, in record time Morgan has Reid slumped over, rambling on about his day, everything from the power outage that reset his alarm clock to the rehaul of their system and process at work that no one could figure out how to work and all the way up to the water being shut down in his building so when he went home covered in printer ink –because he's a 'science kid' he can fix it – and realized he hadn't had a chance to do laundry yet he had to put on dirty clothes then do the work of three people because they couldn't figure out how to be competent, and then stay another hour and a half.

Reid quickly loses track of what he's saying but he can feel himself slowing down. "This isn't what I want to be doing with my life. I don't know what it is yet, but it's not this. And it's not torture, except it really, _really_ feels like it sometimes. I've worked there for over a year and Tobius seems to simultaneously loathe me and feel sorry for me in alternating hours except today was _all_ loathing."

"Reid." Morgan calls softly, as though trying not to startle him. Reid looks up, still feeling hopeless about the whole thing. Morgan is watching him with slight amusement and quite a handful of worry. "This might be outlandish, but you could quit, you know."

"Not if I want to pay my rent I can't." Reid replies, tucking his hair behind his ears and taking a long drink of water.

Morgan get's a look on his face like Reid is being slow. "There's no one else who plays piano here, pretty boy, you can always pick up more shifts here."

The way Morgan suggests it, it seems so reasonable. Reid racks his brain for why he had convinced himself that quitting was a bad idea.

"I could quit. I could play here full time, couldn't I?"

"You bet." Morgan says agreeably, leaning across the counter comfortably, laughter in his tone. "Is this the first time you've considered it?"

"I could kiss you right now," Reid informs him instead, hopping off the barstool. "I'll play jazz all night. You're a genius and I don't even think that intelligence can be accurately _quantified_."

"Just figuring this out now?" Morgan answers, giving him an odd look. Reid can't even be bothered to pay attention anymore because it feels like a heavy weight has been lifted because he can _quit_. Reid himself put the bars of routine and normal hours in place and trapped himself. It's so simple now. There are _musical numbers_ about the relief he feels.

The weight of Morgan's eyes stay on him well after he starts playing but he can't find it in himself to care.

Tossing his resignation notice on Tobius' desk the next afternoon is positively the most freeing thing that Reid has ever experienced. He practically _skips_ out of the building and calls JJ as soon as he possibly can to tell her.

She's speaking like a cheesy announcer and he finds it hard not to laugh. "You've just quit our shitty job of over a year, what are you going to do next?"

"Not Disney," he replies cheerfully. "Thought I'd go tell Morgan. I think he'd be happy to hear I took his advice."

There's a lengthy pause and Reid thinks the call is dropped before JJ's voice is smug through the receiver. "Oh, you _like_ him, don't you? You really like him." Because she's horrible she sounds absolutely delighted by the prospect of relentlessly teasing him about it.

Reid scoffs negatively but she presses on regardless, determined to dredge up every fleeting thought Reid's had on the subject. It's all entirely embarrassing.

The meeting with Hotch to discuss his new schedule is painless at worst and Hotch dryly says – with a perfectly straight face – "I know it's been you they've been coming to see to forget about life for awhile." But Reid can't find any anger that his manger just paraphrased "Piano Man" to him.

Morgan looks pretty surprised when Reid wanders in, he's not in until tomorrow and he doesn't start full time until next week, but he brought a couple of music books to store under the bench to have a reasonable excuse to come and tell Morgan what he'd done.

It doesn't stop Reid from grabbing the barstool he generally thinks of as his own and impatiently waiting for Morgan to stop filling a woman's order to talk to him.

It's fairly late but there are still a few people occupying the bar and Morgan soon has time enough to engage Reid in an actual conversation. "I quit," he starts excitedly when Morgan is within earshot. The look Morgan gives him causes him to back peddle quickly. "No- Not _here_, obviously, my other job. The one I was telling you about-"

"I remember," Morgan interrupts, smiling. "Good for you, does this mean I get to see more of you now?" he looks positively pleased at the notion and Reid can confirm that he absolutely does not grin like an idiot in return.

"If you can tolerate being around me that often."

Morgan holds up a bottle of gin and smiles. "You ought to celebrate."

Reid opens his mouth to decline, he doesn't really drink, but he's in a terrific mood and Morgan is in a good mood and he doesn't want to go home yet and he finds himself agreeing with Morgan readily.

"I don't drink," Reid informs Morgan, gesturing vaguely, making the whisky spill out of the glass and onto his hand. "Very often."

Reid sucks the liquid off of his thumb and Morgan blinks precisely once. "I can't say I'm surprised."

One of the things that Reid has never felt the urge to build up, besides muscle mass, is any sort of alcohol tolerance and so when one celebratory drink turns into five he finds himself quite inebriated and unabashedly staring at Morgan.

When Reid finally drags his eyes away from Morgan's lips and up to his eyes he can clearly read the dubious expression on his face.

"I was just thinking, you've got a great mouth," Reid explains, because he wasn't staring to be _weird_, but then Morgan is fumbling with he tumbler and nearly spills alcohol all down his front. "That was a _compliment_. You look like you could do great things with that mouth."

He thinks he might be staring again.

"I was just thinking, it's time to cut you off." Morgan is looking at Reid's half empty glass. "I didn't realize you had the alcohol tolerance of a kitten."

Reid feels vaguely affronted, he knows for a _fact_ that he can get far more inebriated than he is. "I can recite the A-B-C's backwards," he says in defense because he can.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you could recite Hamlet," Morgan tells him firmly. "That's not the point."

He can, for the record, recite all of Hamlet, in two languages.

Morgan is cleaning up from another customer who decided that 1:30 was a late enough bedtime when Reid almost falls off of his stool to keep staring at him.

"I know you said you were going to take the bus home, but it might be better if I just take you," Morgan says when he walk close enough to not shout.

The only thing Reid picks up on is an innuendo and he finds himself smiling. "Not until the third date." He can't, however, find it in himself to wink. "You should kiss me no though. That's fine."

It looks like Morgan is caught between smiling and groaning. "You're drunk. How about you suggest it again when you're sober?"

For someone Reid called a genius, Morgan sure is dumb, if Sober Reid could do it, he would have, but that's both unprofessional and has the possibility of rejection and in this moment Inebriated Reid feels invincible and that's a good enough reason to try now and not when he's sober.

"You think I would reject you? Why?"

On top of being invincible is seems that Inebriated Reid lost some other basic mortal things. Like a brain-to-mouth filter. "Because you're _Derek Morgan_ and even if you make eyes at science-y me, you make eyes at everyone." He knows that looking the way Morgan does isn't in any way a reflection of the kind of people he prefers, but it's not often that that kind of person is Reid. "Besides, you've just rejected me now, which is fine." And it is. He's disappointed, sure, but the invincible confidence layer makes it so he can deal with it.

Being a bartender means that Morgan is able to keep up with him despite the unintelligent jabber - as opposed to his usual _intelligent_ jabbering – and still protests. "This isn't rejecting. It's…_Sober_ Reid will appreciate waiting until you can make a clear decision."

Reid doesn't think that the decisions he's making are unclear so he restates it, just in case. "I want you to put your mouth on my mouth."

Morgan stares like he's expecting to find an instruction manual if he looks hard enough. _How to Care for Your Pianist For Dummies. When faced with drunk, awkward attempts at flirtation, you can find the OFF switch behind the left ear._ "A clear decision uninfluenced by alcohol," he amends.

Gesturing wildly, Reid insists that even when sober he wants to kiss Morgan. It doesn't seem like Morgan cares very much as he throws a couple more dirty glasses behind the counter. "You really just don't want to." It's a statement, not a question, and he it's harder not to sulk about it this time.

However, Morgan is protesting and finally Reid kind of clues in that Morgan _does_ want to. There's exasperation dripping from his voice when Morgan groans out a _yes_ like he's wanted to do exactly that for some time now, and, oh. That's news.

Somehow, even with Reid putting up as much of a fight as he possibly can Morgan closes up the bar, drives Reid to his apartment and helps him into the flat before leaving, telling Reid that he'll probably be properly embarrassed about the whole thing tomorrow.

Morgan is not wrong.

When Reid wakes up it's with a headache and a few blissful moments of nothing before everything floods back to him. He is, indeed, properly embarrassed about the whole thing and he does the only thing he can think of; call JJ.

"I'm going to quit." Reid silently bemoans quitting his job at the library. "There is no way I can go back there."

"I think you're over-reacting. He said he wanted to kiss you when you were sober."

JJ seems to be missing the point. "But now I'm _sober_ and _embarrassed_ and _unable to deal with this_."

There's not much more that JJ can say so she reiterates, "Go to work tonight, talk to him, don't quit your job. You'll be fine." As if sensing Reid about to protest she just hangs up immediately and Reid is left to return to the bar alone.

It's not as bad as he imagines. He catches Morgan chatting up a couple of regulars and it almost causes Reid to flee on the spot. Instead he manages to walk to the piano, avoiding the bar and pretending he can't feel Morgan's eyes on him, pulls out a book he doesn't need and plays mindlessly.

Playing isn't a release for him tonight and Reid just feels like his entire being is made entirely of nervous feelings and it's not pleasant. Still, the piano is mostly tucked away he avoids eye contact with Morgan for the whole evening as well as he can.

Prentiss makes her way over sometime during the night and sets down a glass of water where his coaster is. Reid would think her a god-send if he didn't know her better.

Sure enough she begins to talk to him about Morgan, using phrases like _sad eyes_ and _marital dispute_ and _just talk to him_ like she's being reasonable.

Waiting until after his shift is over is the reasonable thing to do. An hour before the bar closes, when his set is done for the night, Reid packs up his things, brings his glass over to the bar and waits for Morgan to attend to him.

Morgan approaches cautiously and Reid is trying not to fiddle and to look Morgan in the eye when he apologizes for the night before. The minor smile that had been on Morgan's face drops entirely and Reid wonders where his skill with words runs off to every time Morgan comes close to him.

It's embarrassing but eventually Reid is able to explain that he's sorry for the way he _acted_ the night before but he would still very much like to kiss Morgan if that is something that Morgan himself is up for.

The bar is empty and Morgan looks at the piano instead of replying. "Did you know I am fully capable of playing "The Entertainer" on my own?"

And Reid is stunned for a minute, it wounds like such a non sequitur and he also knows that for the last few months he's been trying to teach him, Morgan had just been awful and even needed Reid to sit with him and play along with him. If Morgan is in fact capable of playing the song-

Morgan looks like he's trying not to laugh now and Reid feels like he's lost a lot of control for someone who initiated the conversation in the first place. Reid settles on trying to look stern and displeased but Morgan is smiling at him openly and his frown slips.

"I thought you had changed your mind." Morgan explains, sitting on a stool beside Reid. "About wanting to kiss me, thought it was a drunk thing."

Reid shakes his head, pushing his shoulder into Morgan lightly. "Walking up and kissing you in the middle of a crowded bar wasn't exactly an option now."

"I think we should date." Is what Morgan decides the correct response to that sentence is. "Properly, with dinners and jazz music and less alcohol."

"You were supposed to say something cliché like 'It's an option now'." Reid can see Morgan trying not to smile and can't help but smile himself. "But I guess dating works just as well."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Posted today because it is Sables first day back to school as well as the first snowfall of the year. Yesterday I walked to the store in a dress. I kid you not. I just finished this thing and it is 11pm and I have work in 5 hours so apologies and goodnight. I hope you enjoyed it even a little

-_Reiver_


	3. The Most Important Meal of the Weekend

If there was one thing that Reid looked forward to on the weekends it was brunch. There was never enough time during the week to make anything substantial enough to call an actual breakfast so, every weekend he always made a special effort to create an actual morning meal, a better one, a superior breakfast that was more than breakfast. A brunch, by the time he finished cooking it.

There is something to be said for very good food and, truth be told, Reid relished the foods he ate and, when they were good, recommend them to his friends. However, that means that sooner or later his weekly brunch is brought up. And after that it becomes a full on Event.

It's less of a brunch for him now and more of a second breakfast. He shares it with his friends even after their initial teasing jests, and while he knows there are a lot of things his friends beat him in; social graces, charm, embracing technological advances, he's pretty sure he's got the brunch market cornered.

It's Friday night and Reid knows that by the time he wakes up tomorrow there isn't going to be enough time to run to the store for any brunch fixings he's missing. So, even though it's been a seemingly endless week so far, he stops at the grocery store on his way home to pick up supplies. Usually Reid's had enough time to outline the breakfast he wants to make, nothing they've had in the past month or so, but not something that wouldn't be servable if he messes it up, but not this week.

Pancakes. Reid settles on pancakes. While he knows that homemade would be more impressive, he also knows that it's nearly impossible to make them taste anywhere near as good as the boxed mixes, that is, without a lot of practice and dedication. Mix it is.

He grabs some eggs, oil, chocolate chips, fruit, standard brunch necessities and even gets in line to pay for everything before he realizes that he never did find the pancake mix. It should have been with the other breakfast items like cereal and tea, but it wasn't.

Reid exists the line, marching up and down isles that vaguely seem like they would hold pancake mix and he almost completely paces the whole store before he finds it in the soup isle. Rolling his eyes, Reid makes his way down to where he can see the last box of mix sitting only to have someone walk up and grab it before he can get there.

Nonplused, he stands there gaping long enough that he actually ends up making an abortive noise that catches the man's attention.

"Can I help you?" the man asks, turning back to Reid and smiling. The man is infuriatingly Reid's type and it causes him to splutter for a moment, trying to find a reason to explain why he's acting so out of the ordinary. Well, for him, anyway.

"I…uh…" the thirteen hour shift he pulled today has made him rather eloquent. The stranger nods, obviously getting impatient, something that Reid fully understands. In a panic Reid feels his mouth open and hears himself say, "That's my pancake mix."

Supposedly Reid is a genius. To the stranger's credit, he only looks mildly offended.

"There are other places in town that sell pancake mix, man," he says, which is probably the nicest way Reid's ever heard anyone tell him to go shove it.

Apparently it only encourages him to shove his foot further into his mouth. "It's for brunch. It's important," Reid tries to explain his behaviour but it comes out more like he's pleading for a box of flour and baking powder.

Looking down at the box in his hand the hot stranger says, "Right. I wouldn't want to ruin brunch then, I suppose." Nodding as if being the most being the most pliant and relaxed person on the face of the planet is normal for him. "Enjoy your pancakes."

The box is, unbelievably, shoved into his basket and Reid says, "Thanks," with only overwhelming gratitude on his mind. It's then that Reid realizes he's just been starring at him for some time. Suddenly embarrassed, Reid tries to think of something nice he can do as penance for ruining this guys breakfast. He gave up his pancake mix for a stranger after all.

"Do you, uh…coffee?" he asks, relentlessly making a fool of himself in the middle of a grocery store.

"Do I coffee?" the man repeats, smiling once again.

"Do you want to go get some. Coffee, I mean," Reid hurries to clarify, relieved that there seems to be a way to salvage the situation. "With me. I'll buy."

Considering the offer, the man shifts his weight, glancing down briefly at the contents of Reid's basket before speaking again. "Will there be brunch?" he's grinning and Reid is stricken by how attractive the man is.

"What do you mean?" he says, caught off guard by the question.

The stranger takes a step closer, smiling wider. "With the coffee, will there be brunch?" Reid feels heat return to his face, though this time it's not solely out of embarrassment.

"I suppose." Because if there's one thing he can do it's brunch.

"Perfect." The man holds out his hand and Reid feels a pull to take it in his own. He refrains, however, he may not be 100% socially adept, but he knows this much about social interaction. "Give me your phone."

The best option for his dignity is apparent and Reid complies immediately. The small raise of the stranger's eyebrows doesn't go unnoticed when he sees Reid's flip phone, but he doesn't comment.

"Text me with a date and time," he hands Reid's phone back. "I'm free all weekend," he adds with a wink, turning and grabbing some second rate, whole-wheat pancake mix on the bottom shelf that Reid hadn't even noticed, before leaving.

The phone in his hand is still warm from the stranger and Reid flips it back open to the new contact that's still up. Derek Morgan.

Walking back to the check out counter Reid wonders if he can tell everyone that brunch is cancelled, that way he can share the meal alone with this insanely nice man It's a nice thought but Reid knows that he'd never be able to do that with a decent conscious and simply concedes that, if noting else, brunch was certainly going to be interesting.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** All I have to say is breakfast. Totally, fully, hands down the best meal ever. Hope you had a good one today! One with eggs and bacon or sausage, breakfast sandwiches, croissants, breakfast sandwiches on pancakes. Just. All the good breakfasts.

Also I've been an awful pen pal to anyone who sent me messages or review and I apologize and appreciate every single one of you humans. I'm just not a very good human most of the time.

-_Reiver_


	4. In This Town (We Call Home)

It's not a secret that Reid loves Halloween. Honestly, what's not to love? The lore is amazing, the celebrations are astounding, and the movies they play on TV are classic. Halloween is an overall excellent holiday.

That still doesn't explain why Reid, with no kids or partner to speak of, ends up trick-or-treating with two of them come October 31st.

Truthfully? Reid doesn't mind. Henry and Jack are both amazing kids, and if their parents want a bit of a night to themselves, then Reid's not going to stand in their way. He dresses up as the Fourth Doctor and carries around a bag of jelly babies. Nobody gets his costume, but Jack and Henry both enjoy him getting so involved and he likes to dress up anyway. The looks that people send his way make Reid wonder if this is exactly what would happen to the Doctor if he were real.

Reid stands at the end of the walkway, watching as the kids go door-to-door, asking for candy and being unfairly cute. He's never longed for kids, but Jack and Henry make him consider it, they're both amazing.

As per protocol, Reid insists on holding their unoccupied hands as they walk from house to house, he knows the statistics and crime rates and this is exactly why he doesn't want kids, he'd worry himself sick on nights like Halloween. At first they protest, then they get used to it when Reid starts offering them some of the imported candy. And people think he's not good with children.

He takes it all back; Reid is awful with children. It's almost eight and they're walking back on the other side of the street now, still going up to houses with the lights on, though the numbers of such are dwindling. Because he knows the statistics, Reid knows that the majority of people make it out of Halloween unscathed so he shouldn't be as proud as he is that they're fifteen minutes from home and there have been no incidents (he doesn't count the woman inviting the kids into her house to pick out treat bags from a plastic coffin an incident even though both Jack and Henry looked back at him a little worriedly). Then some kids, probably late teens, jump out from behind a hedge as they walk past and yell 'boo!'

Original, it's not, but it scares the kids enough that they both shriek and take a step back, Jack into his legs, and Henry, unfortunately, right off the curb. The teens run down the street and around the corner and Reid resents them more than his old bullies from school.

Al in all, both boys are all right, but Henry is crying and has a skinned knee and Reid is a little unsure of what to do. Home, the thinks, Band-Aids, he can manage, only they're fifteen minutes away from his place and he knows he can't carry Henry that far and he's also aware that he has no idea how to sooth a crying child.

"Do you need any help?" Reid wasn't aware that the sound of another's voice could be as relieving as this one.

He looks up to see a hansom man peering down at them, Jack hiding behind him and Henry sniffling still on the ground. Normally Reid would be offended, he's a capable adult and he's more than happy to ask for help when he needs it, only the man is smiling kindly and Reid is, honestly, in need of some form of assistance.

"Some kids in masks scared them. You don't happen to have a Band Aid on you, by chance?"

The man shakes his head but points to a house, "my friend lives there and I'm sure she has some though."

Suddenly the scenario turns weird, the possibility of becoming just another statistic increasing by the second. The house is fully covered with Halloween decorations and Reid's not sure if it's because they love kids or because they love kids _too much_.

The man probably sees how odd this all is and glances back at the house before turning back to Reid and saying, "I'll be right back."

They should leave, now's the time to pick up Henry and just make it around the corner and call Hotch or JJ or someone to come and pick them up, but before he can orchestrate a plan, the man is jogging back across lawns and passing Reid an alcohol swab, a bandage, and a police badge that also shows a picture and the name of the man before him. Derek Morgan.

"I get that you should be cautious on Halloween, and as a single parent out with kids, you should be even more so."

Reid feels his breathing even out and he passes the badge back to Derek Morgan, though he doesn't know how to say he's not a parent without making the situation weird again. "Statistically, of course," he ends up agreeing instead, priding himself on how conversational he sounds.

"Did you invite the Doctor and his companions in?" a voice calls from across the way, both men turning to see a figure silhouetted in the doorway of the house belonging to Morgan's friend, her witches hat creating a surprisingly spooky image in the rest of the darkness. Rid fights a smile, realizing that she's probably the only one who got his costume.

Morgan laughs and calls back, "This is why kids think you're going to eat them, baby girl."

While they're obviously very different, Reid can also kind of see how Morgan and his 'friend' would get along so well, a sort of balancing act that they perform. He is also in no way jealous about any of it. Instead of commenting Reid leaves them to their exchanging, turning back to Henry who has since stopped crying but has done nothing but rock pitifully on the ground. He bandages the injury then kisses it better like he's seen done before and Henry smiles up at him. "All better?"

Henry nods vigorously. "Thanks, uncle Reid."

After doing one more well fair check, Reid first helps Henry to his feet, then stands up himself, grabbing both Jack and Henry's hand and turning back to Morgan. "Thanks, Derek, you're a life saver." A pause for half a second. "Literally, but I meant figuratively. Right now. For us. Well, for Henry." He stops talking if only to also stop from embarrassing himself further.

Surprisingly, the other just laughs, "Call me Morgan, and anytime. The resident Witch of the House wants to know if you'd like to come in for some hot chocolate?" he offers and Reid wonders if having kids around him makes him seem less eccentric, more personable.

Shaking his head and making the curls of his fake wig bounce into his face, Reid declines. "I think we've had enough excitement for tonight. Thank you for the offer, though."

Nodding his head, Morgan assesses the situation. "How about I drive you? We can even take my cruiser." He points to the car in the driveway that Reid hadn't noticed before.

Jack tugs at his hand excitedly, "Can we uncle Reid? Please!" It spurs Henry to start begging as well and Morgan laughs at Reid's situation.

"That would apparently be awesome," Reid ends up deadpanning.

Morgan races to grab his keys from the house while group makes its way slowly to the cruiser and Reid notices Henry favouring his uninjured leg and makes a note to keep track of it. Reid can hear Morgan hurriedly talking to his friend before shutting the door to the haunted house and helping Reid load the kids into the back of the vehicle.

The drive to Reid's house seems longer than it is, and Reid struggles to think of thing to talk about. "How long have you two been together?" is the first thing he ends up blurting out. As soon are the words leave his mouth, however, he can think of dozens of topics; how long have you been in the police force, do you have kids, anything else.

Morgan doesn't seem to mind, though, and actually laughs, "Never. I do love Garcia, but she's my sister away from home. Do you have a lucky partner?"

The unisex pronoun isn't lost on Reid but he doesn't mention it when he also admits to not seeing anyone. For some reason, the conversation gets easier after that and all too soon they're pulling up to Reid's place, the kids practically asleep in the back. Apparently even the magical adventure of being in the back of a police cruiser isn't enough to keep them up anymore.

Morgan helps get everyone inside and Reid finds it endearing that someone as obviously built and intimidating as Morgan can be so kind to children. He stands awkwardly at the threshold and Reid is surprised to find that he really wants to invite the man inside.

"I should get back to Garcia, she's afraid her house is going to get egged again this year and let me tell you; it's not fun to clean up."

Reid laughs and goes to tuck his hair behind his ears only to realize that he's still wearing his costume. He changes tasks at the last second and instead begins to remove the headpiece and set it on the little table in his foyer, making the move look intentional. "I'll bet."

It looks like Morgan is about to go, he nods and turns and waves farewell and, despite himself Reid finds himself leaning against the doorframe and saying, "Why don't we go for that hot chocolate tomorrow? When I'm not looking after the kids?"

The smile Morgan gives him in response is definitely worth the embarrassment he feels over being so forward. "I'll pick you up here around one?"

They actually part ways this time after a brief exchange of goodbye's and Reid turns around to Henry and Jack. The kids dance around Reid, all traces of sleep gone for now, singing about Reid and Morgan K-I-S-S-I-N-G in a tree and, face burning, Reid finds he doesn't want to disagree.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** I haven't been able to use my computer the past, like, week, so here's hoping this makes up for it? I mean, it's not awesome or anything but something better late than nothing ever right? It's even holiday themed! …wrong holiday though… Happy Guy Fawkes day? Not fixed at all 'cause I feel like dying :/

-_Reiver_


	5. Search and Rescue

Being an adult means that Reid doesn't have crushes - no matter what Garcia likes to imply - which means that when Morgan, a man who runs rescue with the rest of the Alpha team, doesn't come into work at his usual time on Thursday Reid doesn't notice. He doesn't notice the lack of conversation (that Reid doesn't look forward to) as Morgan hangs up his jacket on the rack right behind Reid's desk. Not having a crush on his coworker means that Reid doesn't miss his face heating up when he sees Morgan's easy smile and calls him pretty boy as he says good morning and it definitely means that his heart doesn't double in speed when he finds out that they live on opposite ends of the same apartment complex. It also means that Reid doesn't think about how after three days he decided not to offer carpooling when Morgan offhandedly mentioned that his car would be in the shop for awhile longer and now regrets it because he would have known why Morgan wasn't here.

Garcia bustles into the room, it's almost fifteen minutes since Morgan hasn't shown up for his shift and Reid definitely hasn't noticed and Garcia's entrance doesn't startle him out of his worried thoughts. "Hotch asked me to take over for you. You need to meet the Alpha team in their meeting room."

Nodding, Reid relinquishes his chair to Garcia and knocks nervously on the meeting room for their top squad. "Reid, glad you could join us. Morgan is out sick today and we need a fourth."

Reid fully steps into the room and takes an empty seat facing Hotch at the end of the room. The Alpha leader explains the situation they're going into and the animal they'll be rescuing before leading the team out of the building and to their van.

It's a longer day than Reid would have expected, he knows what the teams do, he's gone on a few runs himself before, but he's never had a day as full and horrible as this. The whole day was spent being dispatched by Garcia or JJ and rescuing the animals in question. By the time they finish cutting off the chains from a dog bound up in an abandoned lot, everyone is more than exhausted.

Prentiss claps him on the shoulder after they finish up the paperwork and says, "today was a tough day, thanks for backing us up out there."

"We really do appreciate it," Rossi agrees, taking Prentiss' place as soon as she steps away.

Reid slides on his jacket, glad to be going home when Hotch approaches him, "you did well out there today. With Morgan out with that respiratory virus we really needed the help."

JJ's just coming in from the other room, smiling in the strained way she does when she wants to do nothing more than punch a client in the face. "Did you say respiratory virus? It's a nasty thing, a couple of kids in Henry's class have been out for a week with it. Does Morgan have anyone with him?"

Hotch shakes his head, "When he called in sick is sounded like he could barely speak and his family's not in the state. I doubt he'd let anyone else get close to him in the condition he's in."

Really, all Reid wants is to get home and crawl into bed, but as soon as he pulls up to the complex he looks up at the building Morgan lives in and thinks about how Morgan doesn't have anyone to take care of him he knows he's already decided to go over. Garcia had mentioned she had a date tonight but would stop by tomorrow to see how he's doing and Prentiss said that she'd been texting him incessantly and had Morgan very seriously tell her not to come over. So, logically, Reid is the only person who is prepared to go and see if his colleague is, indeed, still alive.

Going home and changing is a must and he puts on his favourite sweatervest before heading for the door, only to see the chicken piri piri soup recipe that he wheedled out of Rossi about a month ago on his fridge and, well, Morgan is sick and it might as well be put to good use.

It takes Reid much longer than previously anticipated to make the soup and it's almost six o'clock by the time he's funnelled it into a thermos and slipping his shoes back on to take it to Morgan.

Reid's never had a mischievous phase but he's seriously considering ding-dong-ditching in this scenario. He doesn't even have to ring to doorbell, he could knock, or just leave the soup and run away. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that none of these are very good options; their apartments don't have doorbells, for one, and if Morgan is too sick to go to work the likelihood of him leaving his apartment for much else is not very high at all.

Besides, it's not like Reid has a crush on Morgan, there is absolutely no reason not to go in and talk to him like a person. He knocks on the door and is surprised when he hears a groan through the walls followed by a "I told you I'm fine, Prentiss, go bother Surgio if you want something to do."

Reid tucks his hair behind his ear and shifts the weight on his feet, he coughs before he speaks, pretending that the people in the apartments on the same floor can't hear him. "It's, uh, Reid, actually. You know, from work?" He doesn't mean for it to come out as a question and he just wants to turn around and go home, but he hears Morgan shifting inside. "I brought soup."

"Oh, uh, there's a key under the fire extinguisher." the 'come in' is implied, the confusion in his tone is not.

The first thing Reid thinks as he retrieves the key and makes his way into the apartment is that 'under the fire extinguisher' is probably the worst place to hide a spare key but the thought is quickly banished as he sees Morgan in a blanket nest on the couch, surrounded by tissues.

"You look bad." The feeling that wells inside Reid is similar to when he feels the angry burn in his stomach whenever he walks in on JJ patching Morgan up after an abuser has taken a swing at him. The look Morgan gives him in return is not an impressed one, but he also doesn't look particularly upset about the comment. "I mean, you sound worse than you should, even with the virus. Have you been drinking enough fluids? Where's your kitchen?" he motions for Morgan to stay in his blanket fortress and sets down the soup before turning and wandering in the way he assumes the kitchen is in. "You better eat all of that, you need it. Besides, it's Rossi's recipe, and you've eaten his Tagliolini at the company potlucks."

No response comes from the living room but Reid is just kind of rambling to cover the jitters he's feeling. He returns to Morgan who in Reid's absence has shoved half of the blankets from the couch and onto the floor, presumably, to give Reid a place to sit down. Touched, Reid passes his coworker the glass of water he procured and idly wonders if Morgan drinks tea as well as coffee, or ginger ale. Offering to go to the store to retrieve any of the above, Reid decides, is a little weird.

Morgan downs half of the water and ends up with a coughing fit for his trouble. "You're going to get sick," Morgan says when he can finally speak again, not quite complaining but also not seemingly against Reid's company.

"And you're going to get more sick with no one here to take care of you," he retorts, focusing on opening the thermos and pouring it into the cup that doubles as the lid.

"I can take care of myself, I do live alone." Reid senses a sore subject hiding behind those words.

"I'm not saying you can't, just that you shouldn't have to when you're like this."

It seems to calm Morgan enough and Reid hands him the cup, standing awkwardly by the couch. "Sit," Morgan says, gesturing to the unoccupied area of the couch with the colourful plastic spoon matching the rest of the thermos.

Reid does and finds himself awkwardly watching Morgan try to eat soup as though he's not sick and about to keel over. Surprisingly, Morgan succeeds for awhile, though he does wince after his first few bites, a normal reaction, but Reid knows that the soup is also a miracle cure for viruses like these. The spoon is almost in Morgan's mouth again, taking another swallow of soup, but at the last second his hand spasms and its contents is spilled all over him instead. "I'm pathetic," Morgan bemoans in his thick, raspy voice as Reid passes him some tissues.

"You're sick," Reid amends, taking the sullied tissues from him and replacing them with the water glass. "And an idiot for not telling anyone how sick you actually are."

"An idiot?" Morgan croaks and it seems like he's trying to deflect the attention from how helpless he feels.

Reid indulges. "Someone who's stupid has a bad idea and thinks it's smart, an idiot has a bad idea, knows it's dumb, but does it anyway - generally thinking that they can pull it off because they're not stupid. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt."

Morgan laughs, and even though it's raspy and not it's usual charming sound it still has Reid's insides warming pleasantly, though it causes Morgan to fall subject to another coughing fit. "You enjoying seeing me at this low?" Morgan asks, not sounding upset but instead a little teasing and a lot curious after he notices the warm look Reid is sure is on his face.

"I just like taking care of people, being needed. I tried to do this for my mom, but she was still able to function fully and didn't accept my help. I mean, There is nothing wrong with needing some help and I like it. It makes me feel less alone." Reid admits, probably a little too personal, but there's something inherently trustworthy about Morgan that Reid is powerless against.

"I never pegged you for alone." Morgan admits, stirring his cup of soup. It's not a sore subject for Reid. He has an effect on people, specifically children and animals, but he's used to it by now. "I mean, you've got all of us at the clinic, if nothing else."

A smile blooms over Reid's face, "I know, it's just not the same as something to take care of, something outside of work. I mean, I love my job and my life but everyone feels alone sometimes. And sometimes it's nice to be needed."

Morgan nods solemnly to his soup before grinning. "Maybe you should get a cat...or ten."

Reid can feel himself make a face at the suggestion, looking at Morgan as though the virus has made him delusional as well. "I'm lucky I can keep Sergio alive when Prentiss asks me to watch him for the weekend, you'd probably be forced to come and rescue the poor things if I actually owned them."

Morgan politely manages another spoonful of soup instead of agreeing with him outright, but Reid can see the tug at the other man's lips and he counts it as a win. "After you get used to it, this soup is actually quite good."

"Like I said, Rossi gave me the recipe, though it probably doesn't meet his standards."

"I don't think Italian restaurants meet his standards."

They lapse into a companionable silence, Morgan eating the soup Reid made and Reid looking about the apartment, thinking that it doesn't look like a quote, unquote, Bachelor Pad at all. When his gaze settles back on Morgan he can see the man yawning, the thermos lid empty.

"You need rest. I'll put this in the fridge and you can have the rest later." Reid gets up and Morgan looks like he's ready to pass right out. "Do you need any help moving to the bedroom?"

Horrified, Reid turns to Morgan and, if nothing else, it's proof of how much more sociable he's become. Morgan turns back to him, sees the look on his face and laughs so hard he knocks over two boxes of tissues and almost follows them off the couch. "I'm fine, thanks, pretty boy, but if you're free tomorrow think I'd appreciate a little more help."

Reid nods and tries to keep the grin off his face because he is more than okay with lending another hand tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I've never been entirely fond of fics of couples taking care of each other while sick. I don't know if it's because generally such a strong person is made pretty much useless or what, but about six years ago when my sister and her boyfriend were first dating she went over to his apartment while not feeling well and on her period (at his insistence) and ended up throwing up all evening and he just handed her drinks and, like, blankets to use in the bathroom.

My sister has always been an independent human and it wasn't a cute out of commission sick thing, but it always strikes me that even then, at the start of it all, he wasn't after her because she's attractive or funny, but that he genuinely just cared about her. I don't know if it kind of came across here, but I kind of wanted something similar where Reid, despite totally crushing on Morgan, is definitely in it because it's Morgan and not because he's smokin' hot.

Also I can't use my computer and my tablet will not spell check or anything so...definite apologies for both lateness and errors...

-Reiver


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